


The Moment I Fell in Love with You

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Ardyn - Freeform, Chapter 13 rewrite, Comfort, Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-09 21:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10422654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: Final Fantasy VIII crossover. Two worlds have become one in a battle against the darkest threats in history-Ardyn, Professor Hojo and Sephiroth. After suffering an ambush in which so much was lost, the two families discovered a certain chocobo was missing-their beautiful, kind-hearted chocobo named Prompto Argentum.Noctis, Cloud and friends are successful in rescuing their Prompto, but hearts are heavy in the wake of overpowering darkness. Cloud’s at Prompto’s side, reflecting on the feelings he swore he’d never carry, while Cid’s doing just the same at Ignis’ side.Prompto Argentum/Cloud Strife, with Cid having feelings for a certain master chef.





	

No matter how much time passed, he remained trapped in the same moment, the moment in which fear mutilated him and every waking moment. 

The flash of time went beyond eternity. Time’s creators laughed at him as he stood still, waiting for any sign of relief. Any sign of life creeping into the horizon, promising the touch of hope. It was in the hours that stood still he reflected, eyes silent yet painted with a world of pain, longing, frustration. If there was something he could’ve done to undo the wounds that had been inflicted, if there was anything he could have done to restore Prompto’s smile, it would’ve been done in a heartbeat. No questions asked, no quarter given to the merciless flow of time.

No matter how much time passed, Cloud remained trapped in that same moment, the moment in which he vowed never to leave Prompto’s side. The moment faces flooded his vision, all of them frantic, on fire with worry, heartache, a thousand wishes to kill the ones responsible for their chocobo’s pain. Their voices flooded the room but could not reach the one they were meant for, despite him being so close. Prompto had been spirited away, cast into a world they could not touch. A world that existed a thousand miles away from their own. And none of them cherished the distance. Nor did they welcome the silence that came in the wake of a rescue.

No matter how much time passed, Cloud remained trapped in that moment. That moment in which Cid and Noctis, the latter weeping, broken on the inside and out, appeared out of thin air. The moment in which Cloud’s heart sank, touching emotions never before seen, brand-new sensations that warped the following minutes. It was that moment in which he rediscovered himself, finding himself in the many smiles that lit up his hours like fireflies. In the purity that challenged overwhelming darkness.

Yuffie commented on how he made the impossible possible, with smiles as bright as the moon and enthusiasm beyond reasonable measure. ‘With my baby brother around, I feel like I can sprout wings and fly to another galaxy’, she chirped while they were on their way to the Moogle Chocobo Carnival. It might have been a crazy way to word it, but the spirit behind those words were the echoes of the others’ thoughts. Their feelings and memories. Not one of them, Cid included, could deny the magic behind a fusion between two worlds. Thanks to so many destinies colliding, so many little worlds were introduced to the light only Prompto could create. 

That warm, brilliant, blinding light Ardyn and Professor Hojo attempted to steal.

Sitting beside the light that would not awaken, Cloud grimaced. So many expressions had erupted on his face as of late, erupting because of the light that stood against overpowering hate. Fury had been the latest eruption, sweeping through his chest with enough ferocity to incinerate a valley of stars in seconds. It was only a moment ago in which he was taken, their light, their warmth and sound, stolen by hands that knew only blood, and it was a moment he’d give anything to erase. Carving his heart out with a toothpick wouldn’t have been off that list.

One, and only one human, one creature, had awakened such feelings in him.

It was that moment, that lingering, crippling moment, that stole the breath out of him. While they were tangling with Sephiroth, two of the darkest wraiths initiated their attack. And before any of their hearts could take another beat, devastation spread like wildfire. There was almost too much to remember, too much to take in. Ignis, brave, wildly beautiful Ignis, lost his sight keeping Tifa and Noctis safe from Hojo’s newest creation. Red XIII’S home had been transformed into a barren wasteland, and of course there were the Oracles.

Lady Lunafreya and Lady Aerith.

It was strange, how much could be stolen in the blink of an eye.

Relaxing for even a moment was complete and utter lunacy, which was apparent as a certain moment lived on, not at all willing to move him away from the darkness that had spread. It could’ve been hours, days or even weeks since they had brought Prompto home, back onto Cid’s beloved ship. It could’ve been months. It was a wasteland they had all been cast into, both of their worlds finally becoming one under a sky of heartbreak. Sorrow. Loss powerful enough to break mountains.

At least their home among the stars had fallen silent. Tifa was on Prompto’s other side, asleep while sitting upright, equally determined to remain still. Having devoted her life to Marlene and Denzel, it seemed only natural for her to fall madly in love with Noctis’ little brother-and she did just that, vowing to protect him even if the heavens fell. Noctis, in the wake of weeping over Prompto, Ignis, and the women he had come to love like sisters, fell asleep beside Ignis. He was alone in his corner of the galaxy, surrounded by stars that shone because of the light that had fallen into his life.

Shining because of the light he wanted to come home.

He caressed the sleeping gunner’s face, tracing the contour of purity’s portrait. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t shed a tear, not wanting the strength Prompto believed in to disappear. Not even as Ignis, his friend, his brother, had his eyes taken from him. Not even when the young Oracles were revealed to be eternal pieces of the Lifestream. It was for his sake Cloud chose not to fall apart, wanting the photographer to have someone to hold onto, not wanting to lose what little of Prompto they had left. It was because of Prompto-

-his heart skipped a beat, suddenly becoming lighter than the stars that shone above them.

A hand had gripped his, feeling, clinging onto any bit of warmth it could find. Cloud instinctively gripped the hand, surprise erupting just as so many other emotions had done. And it was in their corner of the stars their eyes met, one set filled with relief, happiness and love, the other filled with fear. Brokenness. Horror. “Hey,” a voice made of moonlight said, smiling, strangely warm and kind. 

“Iggy and Tifa whip up any breakfast yet? Sure am starved.”

“Not yet,” Cloud shook his head, words springing to his lips unbidden, unrestrained by indecisiveness, the refusal to acknowledge the gifts life had to offer. Prompto’s hand was gripped even tighter. 

“Breakfast is on the way, though. Pancakes, right? Your favorite. They’re coming.”

A tiny chuckle fell out of the photographer’s lips, accompanied by a set of eyes that had known pain but would only acknowledge light. “Can’t wait.”

A million thoughts sprang to his mind, all of them frantic, revolving around Prompto and Ardyn and Hojo, damn that Hojo, damn the demons of Hell and all of their underlings, damn the gods for even letting a hair on the photographer’s head fall out of place. All of them screaming, demanding to be let out, for the sake of-

Prompto.

“Cloud?”

“What?”

“Thanks for waiting for me. Big sis too. Tell her thanks for me when she wakes up, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Gonna hafta t’catch some more z’s, but I’ll be up and at ‘em soon. Don’t worry too much about me, okay?”

“Can’t make any promises.”

“Hey, Cloud?”

“What?”

“You aren’t gonna leave me, right?”

The spirit behind Cloud’s words left not an inch of doubt, colored with the emotion Prompto had breathed into his life. Colored with the blood he wanted to rip from a certain pair of bodies, come Hell or high water.

“Not even if Ifrit threatens to burn me alive.”

\----------------------------------------

He stepped through the doors with a heart beating as fast as lightning, hating himself for the moments he cherished, hating himself for being unable to stop the moments that never should have happened.

He stepped through the doors and into a world that slept, far away from the devastation that had done so much damage in the earlier hours. A drop of relief rose in his chest; Noctis was still asleep, head resting against that of his advisor’s, with Yuffie on the other side of Ignis’ bed. The hands of the prince and young woman were intertwined, crossed over the master chef’s chest. Taking a deep breath, cup of steaming tea in hand, he stepped forward, taking great care not to disturb the delicate balance between precious moments and the moments yet to come.

In that corner of the stars, a moment was born in which their eyes met. Ignis’ eyes had been taken from him, but the memory of those piercing eyes would never leave the Highwind’s captain. Their color and intensity were reborn in the span of a breath, striking him from the other end of the room. “Hey,” he said, breaking the silence with a breathless greeting.

“Brought you some of this stuff yer crazy about. Y’know, some of th’ tea Miss Lockhart picked up a while back. Peppermint or somethin’ like that. Supposed t’ be good for ya.”

Not wanting to disturb the weeping prince or his friend, much less Ignis, Cid stepped towards their tiny world with footsteps made of nimbus clouds. His heart became lighter than a feather the moment his hands touched those of the advisor’s, Ignis taking the tea cup from him. “Lemme know if it’s not right,” the pilot urged, hoping he sounded gentle, not at all wanting to sound like ‘an old fart’, as Yuffie constantly called him. 

If there was a time for gentleness, that night was it.

“I’m no tea master or nothin’, but I won’t mind redoin’ anythin’. Anyways, how you holdin’ up?”

Had to be dumbest question anyone in history would ever ask. It was at that moment, the moment in which he asked that question, Cid wished Ifrit would burn him off the face of existence. Especially since-

“Just fine, thank you.”

Ignis, true to form, decided to lie.

“Well, I-”

“Please. Don’t focus your concern on me. Think only of the others. They need you far more than I do.”

A thousand questions rose to the rims of his mind and lips, all of them screaming, aching to get out. All of them focused on Ignis, the one devoted to but forever detached from everyone, forever working beyond his limits to help, to serve, to heal. All of them screaming, demanding to be let out for-

“Who died and made you overlord? Can’t anyone ever look after YOU?”

“I’d rather they didn’t.”

“Well then, you can go screw yerself, pretty boy, because no one orders me around. Not even you.”

And it was right outside he posted himself, sleeping upright, back against the doors that led to Ignis’ tiny world.

Not a shred of doubt was left in the wake of unspoken truth, the truth growing stronger as the moments unfolded in a world that had seen too much heartbreak.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for being here. I’m glad you’ve decided to come and read my writing! It means so much.
> 
> This was inspired by a oneshot I wrote once upon a time, when Final Fantasy XV was still known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and Prompto had barely been named ‘Prompto’. It was a Christmas story in which I shipped Prompto with Cloud, the Strife watching over a sleeping Prompto in the wake of a brutal battle. As for Cid, I thought it would be cute to have him fall in love with the devastatingly beautiful, elegant chef, especially considering their obvious age gap. This was written with Ignoct in mind, Cid having an unrequited crush on Noctis’ advisor.
> 
> Thank you for being a part of this adventure.


End file.
